President commemorates Independence Day
Family, economic growth, military security and integration with the West are the four components which make up the formula for Poland's lasting independence, President Bronislaw Komorowski said Tuesday at an Independence Day ceremony in Warsaw.
Speaking at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw, Bronislaw Komorowski appealed to Poles to cooperate in matters of prime importance for the country.
"In 1918 and 1989 we knew how to fight together for sovereignty, for our Polish freedom. Today we also answer together for the country's future. We still face the ambitious task of mapping Polish affairs for the next 25 years of Polish freedom. We must multiply our achievements to hand a safe and good Poland to the second generation of freedom", the president said.
Bronislaw Komorowski stressed that the "formula for Poland's lasting independence" consisted of four components: family, economic growth, military security and integration with the West". Reminding that the family was "always a depositary of freedom", Komorowski appealed for the "consistent creation of a good climate for good families" and declared that everything Polish parents did in the course of their lives was done for their children.
Bronislaw Komorowski also named economy as an important independence mainstay and admonished that the stronger the economy and the faster the economic growth pace, the firmer the fundaments of independence and the living standards of Poles.
In reference to military affairs, Bronislaw Komorowski noted the importance of military security and announced that from 2016 Poland will earmark 2 percent GDP to defence. He also underscored the importance of Poland's ties to the EU, NATO and the western world for its status as an independent state. In this context he also mentioned the need for stronger ties between the EU and the US.
"Looking with gratitude at our forefathers' achievements, we are also looking towards the future to be able to see the challenges and tasks ahead of us and future generations in due time", the president declared.
Earlier in the day Bronislaw Komorowski decorated Poles especially merited for the country. Among those distinguished were former Industry Minister Henryka Bochniarz and former Solidarity Union activist and current MEP Boguslaw Sonik.
Bronislaw Komorowski and his wife Anna also attended a special independence mass in Warsaw's St John's Cathedral celebrated by Poland's field bishop Jozef Guzdek. Before the service Komorowski laid flowers under a memorial to Poland's inter-war leader Jozef Pilsudski.
PM Ewa Kopacz in her Independence Day address stressed the need to teach "positive patriotism" to Polish children. Children must be repeatedly told that Poland was a beautiful country of which we should all be proud, Kopacz said. Presenting a recently-completed pictorial map for schools showing 25 years of Poland's independence, the PM noted that the map "showed the history of these past 25 years (...) to remind young people about what happened in that time".
Source: PAP, president.pl